Less than two years after his life and actions came under intense public scrutiny for living with the corpse of his sister and two dead dogs, Partha De, a 46-year-old software engineer, died under mysterious circumstances here on Tuesday.
According to the police, his body was found in a “burning condition” inside a bathroom. Half a bottle of petrol and some matchsticks were found near it. Preliminary investigation suggests that he committed suicide. The body was recovered from a residential apartment at 15 Wattgunge Street.
In the second week of June, 2015, Partha was rescued from his house in the city’s upmarket Robinson Street area. It was the death of his father Aranbindo De in almost similar circumstances that led to the discovery of the corpse of his sister, Debjani, and two dogs. Partha had been living with the corpse for six months. The father had also allegedly set himself on fire in the bathroom.
The incident led to lot of curiosity and several theories were floated in the media. DNA tests confirmed that the skeletal remains were that of Debjani, who earlier worked as a music teacher in a city school.
Partha was taken into police custody and later admitted to a State-run mental hospital.
Despite the attention the media and the investigators gave to the case, Partha was not charged with any major offence. His fault was that he did not conduct the final rites of his sister and pets.
